Magnetic door holder

ABSTRACT

A MAGNETIC DEVICE IS MOUNTED UPON A WALL STRUCTURE CLOSELY ADJACENT A HINGE MECHANISM FOR A SWINGABLE DOOR HAVING THEREON A HINGE ELEMENT CAPABLE OF MAGNETIC ATTRACTION AND ENGAGEABLE WITH THE MAGNETIC DEVICE FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING THE DOOR IN AN OPEN POSITION.

Feb. 16, 1971 g. EUASON ETAL 3,562,850

MAGNETIC DOOR HOLDER Filed Aug. 13, 1968 INVENTOR.

w W 7 m5 Z7 0% 1.7 J [v M 2 w 0 g yw aw my C M K44 VLA United StatesPatent O US. Cl. 16-139 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A magneticdevice is mounted upon a wall structure closely adjacent a hingemechanism for a swingable door having thereon a hinge element capable ofmagnetic attraction and engageable with the magnetic device forreleasably holding the door in an open position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to amagnetic door holding device and, more particularly, to a type thereofcapable of being mounted closely adjacent the door-supporting hingemechanism, such device releasably holding the door in an open positionwhen such holding is desired, but otherwise serving only as adoor-protecting bumper.

Numerous devices have been developed for the purpose of holding doors inopen and/or closed positions and a number of these devices include amagnet element and a magnetically attracted element, one of which ismounted upon the door and the other of which is mounted upon the doorjamb or adjacent wall which supports the door. This invention isconcerned primarily with the type of magnetic device which is intendedto hold a swingable door in the open position.

The previously existing devices for this purpose have not been entirelysatisfactory. For example, it is generally desirable that swingabledoors should remain free to return to their closed position after theyare operated unless there is a specific need for holding the door in itsopen position. Also, swinging doors are frequently used undercircumstances where the persons passing through the doors have theirhands occupied so that it is at least inconvenient for such persons tomanually engage the door, as for the purpose of releasing the mechanismwhich is holding the door open. Existing magnetic devices capable ofholding a swinging door in the open position are constructed so that thedoor must be pulled away from the magnetic device to release same fromits open position.

Existing magnetic devices for holding doors in the open positionnormally require two special elements, one on the door and the other onthe means, such as the wall, supporting the door. Often, it isundesirable to disfigure the appearance of the door by placing such anelement thereon. In fact, the structures of many doors are such thatbumper structures will actually damage the door unless some protectiveplate is mounted thereon. The problem becomes especially serious whereefforts are made to place the bumper mechanism close to the hinge axis,thereby greatly magnifying the leverage applied by the door to thebumper mechanism when the door swings into the completely open positionand engages the bumper mechanism with a substantial amount of force.

In recent years, a number of lightweight swinging doors have beendeveloped for use primarily as privacy shields. Such doors areparticularly useful, for example, in treatment areas of hospitals, whereit is advantageous to open and close doors without manually engagingthem, and in commercial establishments where a minimum amount ofobstruction to movement is desired between customer areas and working orstorage areas. Where lightweight doors are involved, the problem ofdamage created by devices limiting the swing of the door is particularlycritical. Also, the tendency for such doors to be seized by the magneticdevice and held open when such is not desired, is also more likely tooccur. This latter problem becomes particularly acute where the doorreturns toward the closed position with a relatively slow movement.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is the provision of asmall, easily adjusted and easily installed magnetic door-holding devicecapable of mounting adjacent the hinge axis of the door for cooperationwith and engagement of a part of the hinge mechanism mounted upon thedoor whereby a minimum amount of equipment must be added to the door toeffect the holding operation and whereby the holding device can also actas a bumper without damaging the door.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a magneticdoor-holding device, as aforesaid, which will not effect holding of thedoor unless the door is intentionally and momentarily held in a positionsubstantially adjacent the magnetic holding device to permit theengagement thereof to occur, and wherein disengagement of the holdingdevice can be effected by merely urging the door gently against themagnetic holding device which is resiliently mounted.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a magnetic holdingdevice, as aforesaid, which can be moved into an inoperative position sothat it may still function as a bumper but will not effect a magneticholding of the door even when the door is held adjacent the holdingdevice.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent topersons familiar with this type of equipment upon reading the followingdescriptive material and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a door and casementstructure including a hinge structure and the magnetic holding device ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. '1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIG. 2 andshowing the door in the open position.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IVIV in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view substantially as taken along the line VV inFIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a door casement including a portionof a door hinge mounted thereon and magnetic holding devices of theinvention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIG. 2 andillustrating a modified form of the invention.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate a modified hinge bracket and attached magneticholding device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The magnetic device 10 (FIG. 1) of the presentinvention is shown in conjunction with a door 11 which may be swingablymounted on the jamb 9 of an opening in a wall 12 by a hinge 13. The door11 is of a type which will be normally urged gently toward a closedposition by gravity or spring means (not shown) and a door of this typeis disclosed in US. Pat. N0. 3,160,913.

Hinge 13 has a jamb member 14, which is secured to the jamb 9 by screws16 and a door member 15 secured to the door 11. The jamb member 14 isL-shaped and includes a vertical flange 17 and a horizontal flange .18.A pin 19, which has a head 20, extends vertically through an opening 21(FIG. 4) in flange 18 to which the pin 19 may be secured by welding.

The door member 15 comprises a pair of side plates 22 and 23 secured toopposite sides of the door 11 by screws 24. The door 11 has a notch 28in the lower end of its edge adjacent the jamb 9, and the plates 22 and23 extend over the notch 28 to form a radial bearing for the pin 19.Specifically, the edge portions of the plates 22 and 23 covering thenotch 28 are bent outwardly and then inwardly to form vertical grooves29 and 30, respectively, which open toward each other and define thebearing surfaces within which the pin 19 is slideably and rotatablyreceived.

The door 11 is preferably provided with another hinge (not shown)located near the top of the door and arranged to support same. An upperhinge of a preferred type is disclosed in Pat. No. 3,160,913 issued tothe assignee of this application. However, other types of hingestructures may be used without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. At least one of the side plates 22 and 23 or its equivalentmust be comprised of a magnetically attractable material, such as iron,for reasons set forth hereinafter.

The magnetic device 10 is comprised of an elongated, resilient strap 31which supports a magnetic element 32. The strap 31 is preferably of arelatively stiff but resilient material, such as spring steel, and hasan opening therein near one end through which one of the screws 16extends for securing the strap to the jamb 9. The magnetic element 32 issecured near the other end of strap 31 such as by a suitable adhesive orby welding. The strap 31 preferably has a slight, transverse bendbetween its ends so that the face 33 of the magnetic element will engagethe side plate 23 when the door is in a position (FIG. 3), slightly morethan 90 degrees, such as 95 or 100 degrees, from its closed position ofFIG. 2. The same result could be achieved by canting the face 33 of themagnetic element with respect to the strap 31.

OPERATION Although the operation of the magnetic door holder will beapparent to skilled persons from the foregoing description, a summarythereof will now be set forth.

The device 10 is usually positioned so that the face 33 of the magneticelement 32 will engage and hold the plate 23 (FIG. 3), when the door 11is gently urged into engagement therewith, thus holding the door 11 inthe open position. The door 11 can be released from the open position bypulling it away form the magnetic element 32. Alternatively, the doorcan be released by urging it slightly toward the device 10, therebyflexing the strap 31 into its broken line position 31A (FIG. 3). As thedoor moves the magnetic element toward the jamb 9, the face 33 ofelement 32 is moved away from its parallel position against the plate23, thereby substantially weakening the magnetic bond between theelement 32 and the plate 23. Thus, when the force urging the door toflex the strap is released, the flexed strap will augment the nomalurging of the door 11 toward its closed position. As the door returns toits closed position, it will momentarily pass through the position wherethe face 33 of element 32 is parallel with and adjacent to the plate 23.However, the door will be moving at a rate sufficient to prevent thereengagement of the door by the holding device.

The device 10 further serves as a bumper if the door 11 is pushedrapidly open. The force is absorbed as the starp 31 is flexed and, asdiscussed above, will help to urge the door 11 through the zone ofattraction between the face 33 of the magnetic element 32 and the plate23.

If desired, the device 10 may be made to serve only as a bumper bypivoting the strap 31 upwardly (FIG. or downwardly out of its normal,horizontal position. In such raised (or lowered) position, the magneticface 33 is sloped to the horizontal so that it is incapable of beingparallel with and adjacent to the plate 23, regardless of the positionof the door. Thus, the initial magnetic attraction between the element32 and plate 23 cannot be achieved.

4 ALTERNATE CONSTRUCTION It may be desirable, where a door is capable ofpivoting both inwardly and outwardly from a closed position, to providea pair of magnetic devices 36 and 37 (FIG. 6) to engage and hold thedoor either in the inwardly open position or the outwardly openposition. The magnetic devices 36 and 37 may be identical to magneticdevice 10 in both construction and operation.

A modified magnetic device 40, illustrated in FIG. 7, can be mounted onthe wall 12 near the jamb 9 and at a point spaced from the hinge 13A.The modified device 40 is comprised of a strap 41 which has a V-shapedconfiguration including a first flange 42 with an opening through whicha screw 43 may extend for securing said strap to the wall 12 at a pointspaced from jamb member 14A. The strap 41 has a second flange 44 towhich the magnetic element 46 is attached. The modified device 40 canoperate in a manner similar to device 10, but it permits the door toswing through a larger arc before reaching the open position.

As shown in FIG. 8, the objects of the invention can also be achieved byproviding a lateral extension 51 on the modified bracket or jamb member52 and then attaching a magnetic device 53 thereto. In such case, thedesired resiliency (provided by the strap 31 in the device 10) isfurnished by the resiliently flexible spacer 54 disposed between themagnet 56 and the extension 51 to which the device 53 is attached by ascrew 57.

The spacer 54 is preferably, but not necessarily, tapered in one radialdirection so that the side of the hinge plate '58 on the door 59 willmake a flush engagement with the flat end 61 of the magnet 56 when thedoor has swung slightly more than degrees from its closed position.Thus, when the device 53 is rotated in either direction between 90degrees and 270 degrees (FIG. 9) around the axis of the screw 57 fromthe FIG. 8 position, the end 59 will be in a position where it cannotengage the door 58 to effect a holding thereof.

Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have beendisclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood thatvariations or modifications thereof which lie within the scope of theappended claims, are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A device for holding in an open position a swingable door supportedby hinge means upon wall means and constantly urged toward the closedposition, comprising:

a hinge device including first and second pivotally interconnected hingemembers for swingably supporting at least a portion of said door uponsaid wall means, said first hinge member being rigidly secured to saiddoor and having a substantially flat surface capable of magneticattraction, and said second hinge member being secured to said wallmeans;

a magnetic device supported on said wall means and engageable with thedoor for holding the door in a predetermined open position;

said magnetic device including a magnetic member having a substantiallyflat face engageable with the flat surface of said first hinge memberonly when said first hinge member is in said predetermined openposition; and

said magnetic device further including means movably mounting saidmagnetic member on said wall means for permitting release of said firsthinge member from said magnetic member by a slight urging of said doortoward or away from said magnetic member, whereby said door will returnto the closed position.

2. A door-holding device according to claim 1, for mounting on a wallparallel with the closed position of the door, whereby said mountingmeans comprises a V-shaped resilienitly flexible supporting member, saidmagnetic member being firmly secured to one leg of said flexible memberand the other leg of said flexible member being mounted on said wall.

3. A door-holding device according to claim 1, wherein said mountingmeans includes a resiliently flexible and tapered spacer mounted uponsaid second hinge member and said magnetic member being firmly securedto said spacer, said device being pivotable about an axis normal to saidwall means betweetn an operative position in which said flat face can beparallel with an adjacent to said flat surface for holding said door inthe predetermined open position and an inoperative position in which thefiat face cannot be parallel with the flat surface so that the magneticdevice is not capable of holding the door in said open position.

4. A door-holding device according to claim 1, wherein said mountingmeans includes a resiliently flexible, elongated arm pivotally mountedupon said second hinge member and said magnetic member being firmlysecured to said arm, said having a slight transverse bend whereby saidmagnetic device can be pivoted between an operative position in whichsaid flat face can be parallel with and adjacent to said flat surfacefor holding said door in the predetermined open position and aninoperative position in which said flat face cannot be parallel withsaid flat surface so that the magnetic device is not capable of holdingthe door in said open position.

5. A door-holding device according to claim 4, including a secondmagnetic device having a magnetic element and an arm securing same tosaid second hinge member on the opposite side of said door from thefirst-mentioned magnetic device, whereby said door can be held in eitherof two predetermined, open positions.

6. A door-holding device according to claim 1, wherein said magneticdevice is located close to the hinge axis of the door and said door isheld in said predetermined open position by the magnetic device onlywhen the flat face is substantially parallel with the fiat surface; and

said mounting means including a resiliently flexible member secured toand connected between said wall means and said magnetic member forpermitting urging of said door toward said magnetic member for causingsaid flat face to assume a nonparallel relationship relative to saidflat surface for disrupting the magnetic holding force between saidfirst hinge member and said magnetic member.

7. A door-holding device according to claim 6 wherein the resilientlyflexible member comprises an elongated arm secured adjacent one endthereof to said wall means, said magnetic member being fixed to said armadjacent the other end thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,791,346 5/1957 Tell 16--1392,850,072 9/ 1958 Bryans 292251.5

3,016,563 1/1962 De Jong 16139 3,152,716 10/1964 Feldhahn 16128M FOREIGNPATENTS 1,277,373 10/1961 France 16128M BOBBY R. GAY, Primary ExaminerD. L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 292-25 1.5

